From the next set of six, Mudgee coughed up possession and Matt Rose made them pay as he strolled through some flimsy defence. Five minutes from half-time Jed Betts dived on a grubber from brother Jake, with Blake Lawson’s conversion giving Panthers a 16-6 lead at the break.

Mitch Davis crossed for Panthers’ fourth early in the second period, and Blake Dean extended the host’s lead just minutes after with a four pointer of his own.

Despite Smith scoring again for Mudgee the result was all but guaranteed when former Orange CYMS star Cody Robbins crossed for the hosts.

“I’m over the moon, we’ve been building towards this but we have always lost these games where we played well in patches and took it to the good sides,” Panthers’ pivot Matt Rose said.